The Age of Not Believing
by MelissaeWrites
Summary: Once upon a time, a young boy was at a crossroads, in a metaphysical sense. In a more immediate sense, however, he just wanted his kid sister to go the heck to sleep. AKA: The one where the Guardians tell Sophie Bennett a bedtime story. (Mostly gen, Jackrabbit pre-slash if you want it to be there.)


A/N: I recently opened my tumblr up to requests for a short period, and this was the one I wrote for eastofthemoon's request that the Guardians tell or act out a fairy tale. This one is inspired by Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast, but it's not exactly faithful. It's sort of preslashy (Jack/Aster) if you want to read it that way, but it's really just gen and friendship all around. The title, of course, is from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

* * *

The best thing about being thirteen, in Jamie's opinion, was that he was finally old enough to be allowed to stay home alone. The worst part was that he was also old enough to babysit his rotten little sister, Sophie. She charmed everyone with her big green eyes and too-big smile and giggles that whistled through missing teeth, but Jamie knew exactly how much trouble one six-year-old could be.

"Sophie, go to _sleep_," he groaned.

"Not yet!" she protested, and pointed at the book in Jamie's hands. "Want another story!"

"Soph, you've had three!" he said, but never let it be said that reason could work on a six-year-old. Instead, her lower lip started to quiver in a maneuver instantly recognizable to anyone who'd had to live with her for any length of time. There was a full-fledged tantrum on its way. "Wait! Okay! Just-just one more, okay?"

Sophie grinned and snuggled back into the mountain of pillows on her bed. Blackmail, that's what this was. Blackmail, pure and simple. Jamie sighed. "Man, I could really use some help from the Sandman right about now..."

"Well, I don't know about that. I think he's over Seattle right about now," a voice said just behind him, hovering outside Sophie's frilly pink curtains. A very familiar, just friendly enough to avoid being sardonic voice.

"Jack!" he said, putting down Sophie's storybook and hurrying over to the window. He ignored Sophie's excited shrieks and the way she jumped up on her bed to get a better view, instead working on getting her locked window open to let his friend inside. "What are you doing here?"

"What, can't a guy drop in on his two favorite believers?" Jack asked, and floated in through Sophie's window without so much as a how-d'you-do.

"In September?" Jamie asked, cocking an eyebrow. It was barely 60 outside. Way too warm for Jack Frost to be paying them a visit.

Jack made a face at him, which made Sophie giggle behind them. "I had a feeling you might need an extra smile or two tonight, squirt."

Jamie frowned at that. Jack had confided in him not so long ago that his powers had been deepening, that now he had been sensing little things that might bring his believers joy. Specific things. Things that by all rights, he really shouldn't have known. But before Jamie could ask if this was just a feeling or more like a Feeling, Jack was breezing past him to sit on the edge of Sophie's bed.

"Hey there, Sophie," he said, cocky grin softening into something gentle. "Not ready to go to sleep?"

She shook her head vehemently, sending her blonde hair flying in all directions. "No! 'S too early," she protested.

"Yeah, I've never been much for bedtime, either." He looked down at the book of fairy tales that Jamie had left sitting on her bed. "Jamie was reading you a story, huh?"

Sophie nodded and said, "Yeah! Sleepin' Beauty an' Cinderella an' Snow White-" just as Jamie grumbled, "_A_ story?", and Jack couldn't help but laugh.

"How about we give your brother a break and let someone else tell the story this time?" he asked, looking between Sophie, who looked like he'd just offered her a basket of puppies wrapped up in rainbows, and Jamie, who looked more like he'd just been thrown a lifeline.

"Yes!" they both cried at the same time, but for wholly different reasons.

"Here," Jamie said, handing him the book, feeling well rid of it.

Jack looked down at the book, tracing the pictures with his eyes and the edges of worn pages with his fingers. "You know," he said, "I'm not actually that great at telling stories. Never had much practice. But I _do_ know some people who would probably come help if I told them who wanted one."

Jamie's eyes widened. Jack couldn't mean-

Jack caught Jamie's surprised eyes and winked. "Be right back!" he said cheerfully. He darted outside Sophie's window again, but returned before she could start getting antsy. "Any minute now," he said with a reassuring grin.

As if on cue, a hole opened up in Sophie's floor and a very large, very _irritable_ rabbit poked his head out. "What're you bothering me for, you noisy galah?" he snapped, and he opened his mouth to say something a lot more scathing before he noticed their present company. "Sophie! Jamie!" He looked around until he saw Jack perched over near the window. "Is everything all right up here?"

"Calm down, Bunny," Jack said easily, and Jamie couldn't help but wonder if maybe Jack had used a method of communication better suited to emergencies. "Sophie here," he said, coming over and putting an arm around her shoulders, "Was just asking me for a bedtime story and I figured it might be better with some help." He paused. "Not that it wouldn't have been a pretty great story already, but-"

He was interrupted by Bunny jumping up out of his hole and storming over to him. "Just a story? You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack, Frosty! D'you have any idea how busy I am down in the warren nowadays?" he asked, crowding into Jack's personal space. Jamie had a feeling he'd be even closer if Jack weren't currently using his little sister as a meat shield. He should probably do something about that, come to think of it.

Jack just made a dismissive sound, as if a gigantic rabbit were not bearing down on him with an impressively dark scowl. "It's _September_, Bunny. None of us are that busy."

"I don't know about _that_," was all the warning Jamie got before a third figure flitted into his little sister's room. "Some of us do have to work every night, Jack."

Jamie felt himself go inexplicably shy in the Tooth Fairy's presence. Jack came around all the time, and sometimes he caught glimpses of the Easter Bunny in the spring, but he hadn't lost a tooth in years. Suddenly, wildly, he wondered if he should be calling her "ma'am". But his nervousness was instantly dashed when Tooth realized that there were children present.

"Oh! Jack, you didn't say that you needed help with these two!" Tooth exclaimed, and flew over to envelop Jamie in a surprisingly firm hug. "Jamie! How have you been?" She abruptly pulled back to look in his mouth. "Have you been flossing?"

"Um..."

"Leave him alone, Tooth," Jack said with a laugh, and Jamie breathed a sigh of relief. He may or may not have skipped flossing that morning.

"Jack," Tooth said, and floated over to his side, not-so-subtly checking out his molars instead. "What's this all about?"

Jack grinned and ruffled Sophie's hair. "Sophie here wanted a bedtime story, and I thought it'd be _way_ more fun if we all joined in."

"Oh..." Tooth said, and her face fell. "A bedtime story? I don't think I know any of the new ones..."

"That's okay," Jack said, and he picked up Jamie's discarded book. "She's got a book that Jamie was reading from. I think even we can handle that."

"Da!" a booming voice agreed, and by now Jamie was not even surprised to see _Santa Claus_ striding into his sister's room from what appeared to be some kind of portal. "Fairy tales are very good for children! Which one will we be reading tonight? Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird? Koschei the Deathless?"

Sophie's face screwed up in confusion. "I want Beauty and the Beast," she said plaintively.

"That is good one, too!" Santa said, looking thrilled just to be there. He leaned closer to Bunny, though, and in a stage whisper said, "Though I will miss the battles!"

Bunny just hmphed and crossed his arms. "Can we just get on with this already?"

"Nuh uh," Jack replied, and he only grinned wider when Bunny glared daggers at him. "We have to wait for Sandy. Can't tell a bedtime story without the Sandman." He winked at Jamie, then, who was suddenly very sure that Jack had somehow heard his private little wish. Somehow.

And perhaps Sandy had heard the summons as well, because it wasn't more than a couple minutes later that he drifted in through Sophie's window, yawning and trailing fine golden dust behind him that Jamie _really_ hoped his parents wouldn't be able to see. He had a feeling that a broom and dustpan wouldn't do much good on dream sand.

Sandy, for his part, seemed to latch onto the idea of a bedtime story immediately. He floated up to Sophie's bed and tweaked her nose to make her giggle, then crowded up next to the book to see what was going on. He patted the cover fondly and set loose a slew of sandy symbols in the air above them. Maybe Jack was right and Sandy and bedtime stories really were intertwined. Jamie wasn't one hundred percent sure, because Sandy's little symbols and gestures were going by far too quickly for him to make out, but he thought that Sandy might have been saying something along those lines.

"Great!" Jack said. "So we're all ready?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives from his fellow Guardians, along with something vaguely derisive from Bunny. Jack pointedly ignored this and opened the book. "So how do you want to do this, Soph?" he asked.

Sophie smiled, the big, sickeningly sweet grin that she only used when she knew she was going to have to turn on the charm to get what she wanted. "Act it out!"

Jack looked down at her, nonplussed. "Act it out?" He glanced over at Jamie for help.

Jamie hung his head just a little, realizing that he was about to tacitly admit to something that Jack could mock him for basically forever. "She likes it when you..." He made a vague gesture with his hands. "She likes it when you act out the story."

"Oh," Jack said. And then his face lit up with that devious light that always made Jamie a little nervous. Thankfully, though, it seemed to be directed towards the Easter Bunny rather than him this time. "Obviously, Bunny should be the beast."

Bunny bristled, fur standing on end and nose twitching disdainfully. "Oi! I'll have you know-"

His tirade was cut off before it could pick up steam, however, when Sophie shouted, "No! Bunny's not the beast!"

Bunny's hackles instantly went down, mollified by the kid's faith in him. "See, there, now that's-"

"Bunny is the princess," she finished, and Jamie was sure that about 80% of her wide-eyed innocence was for show.

Bunny spluttered indignantly, but he was helpless to those eyes. When Sophie threw in a lip wobble, everyone there knew that the battle was won.

Meanwhile, Jack's eyes had gone very, very wide and his cheeks had gone slightly violet. In short, he looked as if he were trying so hard not to laugh that he might have an aneurysm, and Jamie watched him with some concern. Jack, crazy as he sometimes was, was still one of his very best friends. "So if-" Jack's voice wobbled and he had to begin again. "So if Bunny is the princess, who are the rest of us?"

Sophie's teary eyes and trembling lip were gone in an instant, and she was suddenly one hundred percent small child self-satisfaction. "Santa," she said, making grabby gestures towards the man, "Is the daddy." She turned to Jack and very seriously informed him, "Because he has a beard."

"But of course," Santa replied, and his voice was tight as well, as if he were also holding in laughter. "Sound logic, little one."

Satisfied that Santa Claus would act in her little pantomime, she then turned to Tooth. "You can be the na... The narr..." She frowned. "You can read the words."

Tooth nodded faux-solemnly and took the book. "No problem," she said. "I'm great at giving orders."

The corners of Sophie's eyes crinkled up at that and she laughed.

"Hey, what about me?" Jack interrupted, leaning forward from the perch he'd taken on the headboard.

"Jack is the beast!" She announced, and then she blew, mimicking the way Jack sometimes iced over the pond not far from their house. "The Ice Beast!"

Jack's nose wrinkled at that, but Bunny had finally found something to laugh about, and did so, loud and long. "Seems like she's really got your number, Jacko," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Suits your personality perfectly."

"Yeah," Jack shot back, "She's really got us down, _princess_."

"Oi-"

Their bickering was cut off by a rain of golden sand as Sandy situated himself between them and waved his arms for attention. Arrows floated above his head along with a big question mark. What was he going to be?

Sophie gave him a look like he'd suddenly lost his mind. "You're the _magic_," she said, as if it were patently obvious.

Sandy blinked at that, and then floated around the room in a lazy circle, clearly preening.

Jamie looked around the room, at Jack perched behind Sophie's head and the Easter Bunny hovering near the foot of the bed, at the Tooth Fairy sitting on the edge of his sister's bed with a book of fairy tales in her hands, and Santa Claus standing not two feet away from him as he awaited instructions. And then he let his eyes follow the Sandman, who was currently doing laps around the room. He wasn't entirely sure if the butterflies in his stomach were excitement or apprehension.

Tooth gave him a warm smile, then patted the chair he'd been sitting on when Jack first showed up. "Have a seat, Jamie. I have a feeling this is going to be a really good story," she said, and her eyes sparkled with some private joke that he couldn't wait to hear the punchline to.

He sat down in the proffered chair and crossed his legs. Yeah, this was probably going to be about a million times better than the Bigfoot movie he'd been planning to watch on HBO tonight.

Tooth gave him one more smile before she cleared her throat and looked down at the page. "Once upon a time, far, far away, there lived a man with six daughters." She paused. "I wonder... Girls?"

As if from nowhere, several tiny, feathered fairies poofed into the room. They chittered eagerly, obviously wanting to know what was going on.

"Girls," Tooth said, "We're putting on a little play and we need a couple more women. Would you like to play the sisters in Beauty and the Beast?"

If anything, the chittering grew in volume as it became very obvious that they wanted literally _nothing more in the world._

Tooth grinned. "Perfect. Okay, so. There lived a man with six daughters. The oldest daughters were vain and cruel, their pampered lives making them spoiled." She stopped again. "That's you, girls."

The little fairies were suddenly a tizzy of movement, each one immediately putting on airs, and sashaying around with the snootiest expressions they could manage. They purposefully jostled each other just so they could could snap at each other in an exaggerated manner.

"Great!" Tooth said, and behind her, Jack gave them a thumbs up. Sophie, for her part, seemed enraptured by the fact that she now had not one but _six_ fairies in her bedroom.

"But the youngest daughter-er, son," Tooth continued, "Was as sweet-natured as her-his sisters were cruel. His name was Belle, for he was also the most beautiful person in the entire village."

Bunny shifted uncomfortably where he stood until Sophie made a face at him. "You have to flutter!" she commanded, and then blinked her eyes rapidly.

"Er-is she okay?" Bunny asked, shooting a look at Jamie.

Jamie stifled a giggle. "She wants you to bat your eyelashes, Bunny."

"Oh, for the love of-" Bunny caught himself before he could say anything unfitting for little ears, and then very deliberately fluttered his eyes.

Jack fell off the headboard.

Bunny ignored him.

Tooth cleared her throat again, more loudly this time. "They all lived happily together for quite some time, until one day the man had to go on a long trip. He promised all his children gifts and asked each one what they wanted. His older, more selfish daughters asked for dresses and fine jewels. But his youngest, his... son, only asked for a single rose."

Sophie sighed. Clearly, this was one of her favorite parts of the story. Bunny shot her an uneasy glance, but she didn't seem to expect him to do anything at this point.

"So the man set off on his journey, and his trip went well. He arranged to have dresses and fine jewels sent to his daughters, but he was unable to find a rose for his son. Discouraged, he made his way home. But on his way, a terrible storm came from nowhere, and he was forced to knock at the great iron gates of an old castle to ask for help." Tooth paused here and looked at Santa meaningfully.

"Oh! Ah-" Santa looked around for something suitable before finally deciding on Sophie's mirror, the only large metal thing in the room. He knocked on the mirror with enough strength that the wall rattled behind it, and Jamie shifted nervously in his seat. "Hello! Is someone there?" Santa called, and Jamie wondered if non-believers could _hear_ Santa Claus.

"There was no answer," Tooth read, "But the gate slowly swung open all on its own. This perturbed the man, but he was cold and his horse was tired, so he went inside. To his surprise, he found no one inside the ancient castle. And yet everything had been perfectly fixed for him. He found a warm meal sitting on the dining table and a soft bed prepared for him. He had no way to thank his absent host, however, so he simply ate his food and went to bed."

Santa let loose a thunderous snoring sound, making them all jump. From the sparkle in his eyes, they could tell that this had not been a mistake.

"Ahem. The next morning, the man explored the grounds of the castle and found a beautiful rose garden. Thinking that his host had been so gracious, and that there was no way he would ever miss just one rose, he went to pick a rose for his beloved son. But the moment he plucked the rose from its bush, an enormous, terrifying beast swooped into the garden!"

With a gleeful whoop, Jack jumped off Sophie's bed and landed half on top of Santa, knocking them both to the floor with a deafening crash. "How dare you steal my rose? And after all I did for you!" he shouted.

They all blinked in surprise at him, Santa most of all. "What?" Jack asked. "I was looking over Tooth's shoulder."

"Maybe a little warning next time, Jack? If you're planning on jumping on anyone?" Tooth suggested.

"Or any other hare-brained thing you think up," Bunny added.

Jack glowered at him from the floor. "I think you're the last person who should be talking about _hare_-brained here, Bunny."

Before Bunny could retort, Santa grabbed Jack by his collar and used him as leverage to pull himself upright. "Now, Jack, be good! You wouldn't want to give the children bad ideas! Soon everyone will end up on naughty list!"

On the bed, Sophie gasped. To a six-year-old, this was a fate on par with being grounded for a year. Or maybe death.

"It's okay, Soph," Jamie said soothingly. "Santa wouldn't really put us on the naughty list." He hoped.

"No," Santa agreed, standing up. "Because you are both such good children. But Jack Frost! He is good boy, but he does not always do such good things!"

Jack scowled at them all and climbed to his feet. "I was just trying to make it exciting."

Santa clapped him on the back. "And it was very exciting! But also painful. So next time, look before you leap, da?"

Jack grimaced. "Da."

"Anyway," Tooth twittered, trying to draw attention away from Jack's sullen mood, "The man tried to explain himself, but the beast would hear none of it. He threatened to throw the man into his dungeon unless the man would send someone in his place."

From the look Jack was sending Santa, he'd probably do it, too.

"With a heavy heart, the man returned home to his children. He knew that he could not send any of them back to the beast, but he was scared to go back himself. His daughters were so excited about their gifts, however, that they didn't even notice how terrible their father looked. Only his sweet son noticed how terribly afraid their father was."

Bunny sidled over to Santa and gave him a rough pat on the back. "You doin' all right there... Dad?" he asked, the name obviously sticking in his throat something awful. He was only just able to keep down the grimace.

This was not lost on Santa, who reached one burly arm around Bunny's shoulders to pull him in close. "Of course, my son! I am fine! It is only..."

"Only?" Bunny forced out through gritted teeth.

"Only that I was detained on my way back to you, my sweet child, by a terrifying beast!"

"A beast?"

"Oh yes," Santa said, and he gave Jack a wicked grin. "He was so tall, and far wider than myself. He had, ah, horns like a devil, and thick, matted fur. He was a terrifying creature!"

"Oh, father," Bunny said, rolling his eyes, "How ever did you escape?"

"The beast let me go free on one condition. One of us must return by the end of the week ." Santa paused for dramatic effect. "But I could never let one of my precious children take my place in the dungeon of a terrible beast."

"Oh, but father," Bunny said, sounding bored. "You must allow me to take your place. It is only right, because you were getting a gift for me."

"North didn't say that," Jack cut in.

"Oi, shut it. The son is smart enough to figure it out himself."

Jack stuck his tongue out, but he didn't push it.

Santa pulled Bunny closer, briefly yanking him off balance. "But I would miss you so much, my son!"

Bunny scowled and attempted to right himself. "Not half as much as I will miss you," he growled.

"If your mind is made up, my sweet, then I will simply have to bid you a fond farewell." And that was all the warning Bunny got before Santa planted a sloppy kiss on both of his cheeks and pulled away with a shout of laughter.

"Oi, get off me, you bloody-"

"Bunny!" Tooth admonished and Sandy put a finger over his lips. "Little ears!"

Jamie had a pretty good idea of what Bunny had been about to say, but thankfully Sophie seemed cheerfully clueless. Still, the last thing he needed was for her to start spouting dirty words she'd learned on his watch. He'd be grounded for the rest of his life. He sent Bunny an anxious look, which seemed to take the fight right out of him. His ears fell back against his head and he seemed to hunch in on himself. "Too right. Sorry about that."

Tooth just shook her head, then went back to reading. "The son made his way out to the old castle, and knocked on the old gates, which opened for him. He was not surprised to find the beast waiting for him, but he was surprised to find that he was met very cordially."

Jack sauntered towards Bunny and stuck out a hand. "How d'you do?" he asked with a small smirk.

Bunny shot an unsure look towards Tooth, who shrugged. "Though the son felt some trepidation," she read, "The beast did not seem cruel or vicious."

Bunny put his paw in Jack's hand and shook it firmly. "E. Aster Bunnymund."

Jack quirked an eyebrow at him, but only replied, "Jack Frost."

Both of them paused then, waiting for Tooth's instructions, and the moment stretched between them. Tooth looked between them, then back at the book. "Um. Though the beast seemed polite, Belle could not forget why he had come. He told the beast why he was there, and asked what sort of dungeon he would be kept in."

Bunny looked down at their hands, which were still joined, and hastily dropped Jack's hand. "Well, this has been nice, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be putting me in a dungeon," he said, and laced his voice with extra sarcasm to make up for the way that he felt a little wrong-footed.

Jack's mouth opened, then closed, and he looked at Tooth beseechingly. "The beast doesn't put him in the dungeon, does he?"

"No," Tooth said, shaking her head. "He told Belle that he would be there as his guest, but he could never leave. And then he left him alone to explore the castle."

Jack looked Bunny right in the eye and said, "I wouldn't do a thing like that. Your dad was the one that stole from me, not you. I'll take care of you here, better than a father who would sell you to a beast for his own freedom."

Bunny's eyebrows went up. "Still doesn't sound like freedom to me, mate."

"It's sort of free," Jack argued. "You can go anywhere you want on the grounds, and the place is magical, so there are tons of cool secret passageways and stuff."

Sandy nodded in agreement, pictures of opening and closing doors and dancing candlesticks helping to illustrate this fact.

Jack nodded, too, and said, "I'll just let you, uh, make yourself at home." And then, as if he'd only just then realized how close he was standing to Bunny, he stepped away stiffly and went to join Tooth on the bed. He plucked at the bedspread, looking unsettled, and Jamie wondered what had him so off-center.

Tooth put her hand on his, which helped calm him somewhat, and then she continued, "Belle did explore the castle, and the grounds. He found room after room of luxury, but not a single servant. He realized that it was indeed a magical castle, and he wondered how the beast had come to live here all alone. Had it been magical before the beast came? Was the beast under a curse? What had happened to the castle's previous inhabitants? Belle was left alone with these thoughts until he met with the beast for dinner, which was extraordinarily delicious. He enjoyed conversing with the beast over dinner, but as he prepared to leave for bed, the beast asked him a shocking question."

"Oh boy, here we go," Jack sighed.

"He asked him-oh my." Tooth took a break and giggled, and Jack took the opportunity to look over her shoulder again.

"Excuse me? What kind of story is this?"

"Love story!" Sophie chirped from her place in the middle of the bed.

"What am I missing here?" Bunny asked, ears twitching nervously.

Jack sighed and stood up from the bed. "Belle, would you please be my, uh, husband?" he asked, voice stilted.

"_What?_" Bunny yelped. "What kind of person asks that after one night?"

"Well, I'm sorry!" Jack snapped. "I've been alone for a long time and maybe I don't have very good social skills anymore!" And then his mouth snapped shut and he looked absolutely furious with himself.

Jamie wasn't sure what caused it, but something in Jack's words or his demeanor caused a full-body flinch in Bunny. He seemed to war with himself before swallowing hard and saying, "It's no problem, mate." And then words, far more personal than they had any right to be, pushed up out of his mouth seemingly unbidden. "Sometimes I feel like I don't belong anywhere anymore, either."

"Then..." Jack's expression shuttered, and Jamie couldn't tell if he was retreating behind character or not. "Then maybe we could just suck at belonging together."

Bunny averted his eyes. "Maybe," he said, voice rough. Then his eyes snapped back to Jack's. "But I still ain't marrying you, ya presumptuous yobbo. Honestly, asking a guy to marry you first night in? You can do better than that."

That? That was a challenge, and as long as Jamie had known him, Jack Frost had never backed down from a challenge. "Maybe I will," he shot back.

"Good! Can't do much worse!"

"Boys!" Tooth interrupted. She, Santa, and Sandy were sharing looks that Jamie couldn't identify. "That's not how the story goes. Belle just politely declines and goes to bed. And then..." She skimmed the page. "It goes on like that for a while, actually. During the day, Belle explores the house and finds more and more hidden wonders each day, and at night, he sits with the beast and they become close friends. And every night, the beast asks Belle to marry him, but Belle says no."

"But the proposals get better over time, right?" Jack asked.

"Mmm, I don't think so, Jack. They seem pretty monotonous."

"Ugh," Jack said. "I'm gonna have to do something really melodramatic to get his attention, aren't I?"

Bunny twitched, but Jamie really couldn't blame him. Jack was talking as if he really were trying to woo him.

"Da! Like maybe allowing him to return home to visit his loving family?" Santa cut in, obviously starting to feel left out.

"Yes, actually," Tooth said. "That's exactly what happens. Belle slowly grew fonder and fonder of the beast and the home they'd built together, but he still missed his family very much. He would gaze out into the distance every evening and sigh heavily, wondering what his family would doing. The beast saw his suffering and could not bear it. After all, Belle had become precious to him as well. In fact, he was so precious to him that he knew he had to let him go. So he called Belle to him and let him know that he was free to go home and see his family."

Jack looked at Bunny and shrugged. "Belle, even though your family is completely awful and they literally gave you to a beast who _might've eaten you_, you are free to go visit them if you want," he said, his voice holding a false air of ambivalence.

"Nah," Bunny said with a grin. "You wouldn't do a thing like that. It's right decent of you, though, letting me have a holiday."

Sophie, who had been leaning further and further forward could no longer restrain herself. "But!" she yelled, then covered her mouth. She looked up at Tooth through a curtain of blonde hair.

"But," Tooth agreed, "He made Belle promise to come home within one week, and not to listen to a word his sisters said. He gave him a ring so that he would be able to find his way home."

"Please don't stay away too long," Jack said obediently. "I'll miss you. Even if you won't marry me, I'm gonna put a ring on it anyway-a magical ring. Even you can't turn that down." Then, to Jamie's shock, he put his head down towards Bunny's paw and blew lightly, creating a ring of ice around one of his fingers.

Bunny yanked his paw away. "Crikey, Jack, that's freezing!"

"No, that's magic. You can use it to find your way home. Also, your sisters are horrible, don't listen to them."

Bunny's whiskers twitched as he tried to hold back a grin. "I'll keep that in mind, mate," he said dryly, still massaging his paw.

"And so Belle traveled home and met with his father and sisters, who had never expected to see him again. They asked him about his jailer, and Belle surprised himself by defending the beast," Tooth read.

"My son!" Santa boomed, striding forward to give Bunny a full-body hug. The fairies darted forward to swarm around Bunny's head, chattering loudly and preening themselves. "We thought you were eaten by a terrible beast! Is good thing you escaped!"

"He's not terrible," Bunny said as if on autopilot. Then he made a face at himself and pushed Santa away. "He's rude, but so'm I. We're both a bit broken, the two of us. And his castle's got all the flowers a bloke could want. _And_, I didn't escape. He let me come home for a visit, so long as I'm back in a week."

Tooth looked a bit startled at Bunny's outburst, but she covered it well by continuing in her narration. "This surprised his family, and they immediately conspired to get him to stay with them instead of returning to the beast. They kept him constantly busy for several days until he completely forgot the one week deadline. It was only when he noticed that the ring around his finger had grown dull that he remembered his promise and he tore himself from his family and ran back to the castle."

Bunny looked down at the ring on his paw, which was starting to melt away. "Oh bollocks, I completely forgot what day it was. Hope the beast won't be too mad at me," he said, and then mimed a quick jog.

"But it was too late," Tooth read, and Sophie covered her eyes. "When Belle arrived back at the castle, he found that the beast had collapsed on the floor." She gave Jack a meaningful glance.

Jack, who had never been able to do anything halfway, pretended to swoon and then dropped to the floor like a rock, cracking his head on the floor in the process. "Ow! Jeez!"

Bunny immediately dropped to his knee next to him. "You all right there, Frostbite?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jack, said rubbing at his head.

"No, he was not," Tooth cut in. "He was almost dead! He had barely any heartbeat."

Jack's ability to play dead was rather ruined by his inability to keep the giggles to a minimum, and Bunny gave him a playful swat.

"Belle realized then that the beast had believed that he was never coming back, and he had wasted away from loneliness."

"Wow. That is melodramatic," Jamie said, and Bunny snorted. Jack's not-dead snickers intensified.

Tooth pretended as though she hadn't heard them, which was easy to do because Sophie had just about crawled into her lap. "This is my favorite part," she whispered solemnly, and Tooth had to work hard not to squeeze her too tightly.

"Belle apologized over and over, begging the beast to wake up. He realized now that at some point, he had fallen in love with the beast, and the idea of living without him was too much to bear."

Bunny looked skyward for patience, then gave Jack's shoulder a rough shake. "Oi, wake up. You're not as bad as all that." He paused. "In fact, you drive me crazy a good half the time, but the rest of it, I actually like having you around. You're brave and loyal and you're too bloody stubborn to ever give up."

Jack's eyes fluttered beneath his lids, and his lips were pressed together so hard that they were almost white. Jamie guessed that wasn't really something he was used to hearing.

"And then, in a last ditch effort- Oh, Sophie, you can't make them do that," Tooth said.

Sophie, who was wholly in her lap now, shook her head so hard that her hair flipped a few pages. "They have to kiss!" she demanded.

Jack's eyes flipped open. "Excuse me?"

Jamie choked, and Bunny made an almost identical sound, almost like a blender dying. Santa, meanwhile, was laughing until his belly really did shake like a bowlful of jelly. The uproar was so loud that it even woke up Sandy, who'd drifted off somewhere around the time that he realized that Tooth, bless her heart, was skipping over all the magic.

"Kiss!" Sophie insisted.

"Sophie," Jamie tried, "That's not really the kind of thing you can force two people to do..."

And then she started holding her breath.

"Oh no," Jamie said. "She's doing it again. Sophie, stop it."

But Sophie didn't stop. Instead, she started to turn a rather alarming shade of puce.

"Oh, for-" In one sudden movement, Jack reached up and grabbed Bunny by the ruff, then yanked him down, mashing their lips together. Everyone was quiet for a second, and then the room exploded with noise. Tooth was gasping, both hands pressed to her mouth, and Santa was yelling something in Russian that Jamie was almost positive he shouldn't be hearing. Sophie was squealing in delight, but the little fairies looked about ready to riot. Even Sandy, usually taciturn, had exclamation points and hearts whirling around above his head. Jamie fought with the nearly unbearable urge to cover his eyes and groan. That was what babies did when people kissed in front of them. This might have been a special case, though...

Even though Jamie was almost positive that Bunny was a lot stronger than Jack was, physically, it took a couple seconds before he tore himself away and pushed Jack back down to the ground. "The dead are supposed to _stay_ dead, Jack," Bunny said, but the dangerous tone that he no doubt wanted to have in his voice was belied by the way it shook.

"Not if they get woken up with a kiss," Jack replied cheekily. "Besides, I seem to remember a certain rabbit saying he liked having _me_ around."

Bunny's face did that funny twisty thing again, like he was thinking of something unpleasant that Jamie didn't know about, and he didn't answer. Instead, he just climbed to his feet and walked a safe distance away. He then glared around at all the other Guardians as if daring them to say something about the kiss. "Well? What happened next, Tooth?" he asked, and there was an acidic note to his voice.

"I, um." She stammered for a moment, then flicked the pages of the book she'd dropped back to where they'd been. "There was a burst of light as a beautiful golden fairy arrived from nowhere."

Sandy didn't need to be told twice. He summoned up a small cloud of sand to float on, and then, when he was between Jack and Bunny, caused it to explode in a miniature burst of light and fine golden sand. And for a moment, in the soft light of Sophie's favorite teddy bear lamp, Jamie really could believe that it was pixie dust. He could hear Sophie's soft "oooh" from Tooth's lap and he wasn't too embarrassed to admit that his mouth was hanging open, too.

"'This beast was actually a handsome prince put under a curse,' the fairy told Belle. 'Not so long ago, he was an arrogant prince with no regard for others, and so I put a curse on him. Until he could love and be loved in return, he would be doomed to live alone as a beast with only his thoughts for company. But now he has learned his lesson, and a beautiful mai-um, man, has fallen in love with him.'"

Sandy obediently acted this out, putting his hands on his hips and waggling a finger at Jack, who looked suitably chastened.

Bunny, though, was frowning. "You're starkers. How does that make sense? A bloke's a right whacker, so you lock him up in a castle all by himself in a body not his own? How could that make him a better person?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

Sophie sighed the sigh of the world-weary. "It _doesn't_," she said, she she looked disappointed that she was having to explain this to someone that she'd thought to be a lot smarter than this. "Love made him better."

"I don't think love can magically make anyone better, either, Soph," Jamie cut in, trying to be diplomatic.

"No," Jack said, and his voice was uncharacteristically quiet, "But sometimes someone believing in you a little bit can make you want to try to be better."

"Yeah," Bunny agreed. "I reckon you're right about that." There was dark something in his eyes that Jamie couldn't quite figure out, and he squinted at him.

Sandy blew some air out the side of his mouth exasperatedly, then tapped his own chest and threw out a bit more pixie dust.

Tooth caught the not-so-subtle hint. "Regardless of whether the fairy's curse actually did anything to change the beast, now that the beast had received true love's kiss, the curse was broken. The beast was enveloped in bright light, so bright that it hurt Belle's eyes. When the light faded, the beast had been transformed into a handsome prince, and he was whole and healthy. The two of them immediately embraced, thrilled that at least they could finally be together."

Sophie leaned forward in Tooth's lap and gave them both a very pointed look. With a long suffering sigh, Bunny hopped forward and pulled Jack up into a rough hug. Jack laughed as he was pulled forward, but the carefree look on his face was wiped right off when Bunny leaned forward just a hair to whisper something into Jack's ear. Jamie strained to hear it, but all he could make out was a deep rumble. After a moment, Jack leaned forward, resting his head on Bunny's shoulder and the playful hug became a real embrace.

Sophie sighed deeply, the very picture of happiness. "And they lived happily ever after," she said.

"That's right, sweetheart. The two of them lived happily together in the beast's castle for all their days," Tooth replied, pressing her cheek next to Sophie's in a gentle snuggle.

Sandy floated over to where Sophie was seated and very carefully sprinkled a pinch of dream sand over her head. Almost immediately, her eyes started to droop. "I feel sleepy..."

"I bet you do, after four bedtime stories," Tooth said, and she rearranged Sophie so she was back under the covers instead of in her lap. "Good night, Sophie."

"Night-night, fairy," she said drowsily. "Night, Santa an' Sandy an' Jack. G'night, Jamie." She turned to look at Bunny, who had finally disentangled himself from Jack so he could approach her bed. "Night, Bunny. Thank you for bein' such a pretty princess," she said, voice serious.

"No problem, love," he said, and pressed a furry kiss to the top of her head. Jamie was willing to bet that the Easter Bunny had given out more kisses in this evening than he had in the past decade at least, but Sophie looked absolutely tickled pink for about the thirty seconds it took her to drift off to sleep.

The Guardians looked at each other, each seemingly lost now that their goal had been achieved.

"Um," Jamie said, and they all turned to look at him instead. "Thanks a lot for coming to help. It can be impossible to get her to go to sleep some nights."

Tooth's expression softened. "It's okay, Jamie. We keep saying we want to spend more time with children. Why not the children who are the reason we're even still here?" she asked, voice soft so as not to wake the little girl slumbering peacefully next to her.

Jamie colored. He'd really never thought of it like that. Jack had told him time and time again that he was a special kid, but that was just Jack. Jack was kind of like the annoying older brother that he'd never had. Hearing it from someone like the Tooth Fairy was something else entirely. "N-no, I just..."

"She is right, Jamie, we would not be here without your help," Santa said, and he drew close to Jamie's chair so he could clap him on the shoulder. Jamie rocked forward under the force and tried not to hyperventilate because _Santa Claus had just complimented him_.

"Yeah," Bunny cut in. "You were our very last believer, kiddo."

"And sometimes one believer can mean the world to the person they believe in, right?" Jamie asked, remembering something that Jack had told him once.

"Exactly right," Bunny answered, and he shot a sideways look at Jack as if he had an inkling where Jamie had heard that in the first place.

Sandy made some kind of gesture, pointing between the Guardians, then placing his hand on his heart.

"Eloquent as always, my friend!" Santa boomed, and then leaned down so Jamie could see the sparkle in his eyes. "You reminded us that we Guardians need to believe in each other as well! It is the most important thing. Children believing in Guardians. Guardians believing in Guardians! And both children and Guardians believing in _themselves_."

Jamie swallowed against the tightening in his throat. Now that he was getting older, it was starting to get a lot harder to believe in things the same way he used to. Not just Santa Claus and fairies, but things like friendship and love and forever, too. He could feel doubt clawing at the back of his heart nowadays, and that doubt had already taken hold of many of his friends. It was a cynical age, and sometimes it felt like fairies and love stories had no part in it. But seeing Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairies and the Sandman all standing in his house, watching him warmly, seemed to bolster the spark inside him that he was sure was his belief. Maybe he couldn't believe in everything anymore, but as long as magical creatures could show up in his little sister's room and tell her an insane bedtime story, there was definitely a lot to believe in.

And standing behind them all, a little off to the side, was Jack Frost. Jack, flighty as he could be, had become one of Jamie's dearest friends. And he could tell from the soft, self-satisfied look on Jack's face that Jack really had been able to hear what his heart had been asking for-and it hadn't just been help putting his little sister to bed. "Thank you-all of you," Jamie managed to force out. "Believing in, well, believing in any of those things hasn't been so easy lately."

"Oh, Jamie," Tooth said, rising from Sophie's bed so she could come hover close to him. "That's part of growing up. But believe me when I say that even if you can't always believe in us, we'll always believe in you."

He nodded, not quite trusting his voice to speak. In the end, though, he didn't need to. The old grandfather clock downstairs started to chime the hour, and Tooth suddenly looked distraught. "Oh my goodness! Is it really that late? It really has been lovely seeing you again, Jamie, but I still have five continents to cover! In fact, I-" She stopped and looked at the other Guardians contemplatively. "Could you guys give me a hand with collecting the teeth again? Just for tonight? I'm so behind schedule, and-"

"Stravinsky! It would be a pleasure, Tooth!" Santa said. His expression suddenly went just a little bit dark, and Jamie couldn't help but shiver. "And I know Sandy has been wanting rematch."

Sandy jumped up into the air and clapped his hands. Obviously there was some history here that Jamie was missing, but no one else seemed confused.

"Oh, this I've gotta see," Bunny said, further confirming Jamie's suspicion that this was just a Guardian thing. There was a beat, and then Bunny asked, "You comin', Jacko?"

The grin Jack flashed him was blinding. "You bet, Cottontail. I'll catch up with you in a minute. Just let me say goodbye to Jamie first."

Bunny's answering smile was surprisingly warm, considering the way they'd been at their throats not two hours before. Jamie knew something had transpired between the two of them during the story, but he couldn't quite figure out what it had been. "Right then. See you over Greenland, Frosty."

The other Guardians got the hint, each waving goodbye to Jamie in turn as they left through Sophie's window, Santa giving him another warm pat on the back and Tooth contributing a light kiss on the cheek on the way out.

That left just Jamie, Jack, and a soundly snoozing Sophie. "Thanks, Jack, for tonight," Jamie finally said.

"No problem, Jamie," Jack said. "I thought you could use a pick me up."

"Yeah, but..." Jamie started, but then he realized he didn't quite have words for just what this evening had meant to him.

"Besides," Jack said, reaching out and tweaking his nose. "You're getting older. Gotta get in as much play time as I can, right?"

"Yeah... Right," Jamie replied hesitantly. It seemed like all the Guardians thought that Jamie was going to grow out of them soon, but that was the last thing he wanted. "But Jack, I'm not going to stop believing in you soon, am I?"

Something pained briefly passed over Jack's face before he could hide it under another one of those cocky smiles. "That's up to you, isn't it? But I can guarantee you that I'll keep reminding you that I'm here for as long as I can. And I'll always have a snowball just for your ugly mug."

That startled a laugh out of Jamie. "I'll be waiting for it," he promised. And internally, he made another promise. He told himself that he would never let himself forget this, not the way his chest got warm even as the air grew cold whenever Jack was near, and not the way that his presence could coax a laugh out of him on even the worst day. Even if he stopped believing in Santa or the Tooth Fairy, he wouldn't ever let himself stop believing in Jack Frost.

Something of his resolve must have shown on his face, because Jack suddenly frowned. "Don't hurt yourself thinking so hard, Jamie. What's up?"

"Oh! Um." Jamie cast around for an excuse. "Not much. I was just wondering what the Easter Bunny said to you back there."

Another weird look came over Jack's face, one that looked happy and confused at the same time. "No, he just... He just said something about the fairy judging the beast too quickly and too harshly. And that maybe all the beast really needed was a friend to see him through the tough times. And..." Jack hesitated here, as if unsure whether he should continue.

"And?" Jamie asked, raising his eyebrows and leaning forward.

"And that maybe Belle had been lonely, too," Jack finally finished. "Just a bit."

Jamie sat back in his chair, mulling over that. "You and all the other Guardians are friends now, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack said, and flashed him a grin. "Why? You worried about me?"

Jamie stuck out his tongue. "Just a bit."

Jack laughed and ruffled Jamie's hair. "Well, stop it. I'm way lucky. I've got great friends and great believers. And," he said, leaning forward, "Between you and me, I've got a doozy of a winter planned."

Jamie laughed. "I bet!"

Jack pulled back and flew over to the window. "Well, I'm apparently needed in Greenland. So catch you later, Jamie. Don't end up on the naughty list, like me," he said with a wave.

"Bye, Jack!" Jamie said, waving furiously. And even after the last of the Guardians had flown away and he was left alone with Sophie, the spark inside his heart burned brighter than ever.


End file.
